AP Government Exam Vocab Flashcards
Work towards an A on the AP Government Exam.
Equality in political decision making: one vote per person, with all votes counted equally.
political equality
Equality in wealth, education, and status.
social equality
The idea that each person is guaranteed the same chance to succeed in life.
equality of opportunity
The concept that society must ensure that people are equal, and governments must design policies to redistribute wealth and status so that economic and social equality is actually achieved.
equality of outcome
A consistent set of values and beliefs about the proper purpose and scope of government.
political ideology
An economic doctrine that opposes any form of government intervention in business.
laissez faire
A system of government in which the power to govern is concentrated in the hands of one individual. Also called monarchy.
autocracy
A system of government in which power is concentrated in the hands of a few people.
oligarchy
A system of government in which, in theory, the people rule, either directly or indirectly.
democracy
A view of democracy as being embodied in a decision-making process that involves universal participation, political equality, majority rule, and responsiveness.
procedural democratic theory
The classical theory of democracy in which government by the people is interpreted as government by the majority of the people.
majoritarian model of democracy
An interpretation of democracy in which government by the people is taken to mean government by people operating through competing interest groups.
pluralist model of democracy
A process of transition as a country attempts to move from an authoritarian form of government to a democratic one.
democratization
The belief that the people agree to set up rulers for certain purposes and thus have the right to resist or remove rulers who act against those purposes.
social contract theory
A government without a monarch; a government rooted in the consent of the governed, whose power is exercised by elected representatives responsible to the governed.
republic
A loose association of independent states that agree to cooperate on specified matters.
confederation
A majority greater than the minimum of 50 percent plus one.
extraordinary majority
A form of government in which power resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives.
republicanism
The division of power between a central government and regional governments.
federalism
The power to declare congressional (and presidential) acts invalid because they violate the Constitution.
judicial review
The clause in Article VI of the Constitution that asserts that national laws take precedence over state and local laws when they conflict.
supremacy clause
The collected attitudes of citizens concerning a given issue or question.
public opinion
The complex process by which people acquire their political values.
political socialization
Position in society, based on a combination of education, occupational status, and income.
socioeconomic status
The implication that people choose what benefits them personally.
self-interest principle
The difference between the results of random samples taken at the same time.
sampling error
Continuous surveys that enable a campaign to chart its daily rise or fall in support.
tracking poll
The means employed in mass communication; often divided into print media and broadcast media.
mass media
Leaders who follow news in specific policy areas.
attentive policy elites
The process in which a few policy elites gather information and then inform their more numerous followers, mobilizing them to apply pressure to government.
two-step flow of communication
The degree to which a news story is important enough to be covered in the mass media.
newsworthiness
Both reporting news and running commercials geared to a target audience defined by demographic characteristics.
market-driven journalism
A situation that is so “newsworthy” that the mass media are compelled to cover it; candidates in eleections often create such situations to garner media attention.
media event
A list of issues that need government attention.
political agenda
The rule that requires broadcast stations to sell campaign air time equally to all candidates if they choose to sell it to any.
equal time rule
Actions of private citizens by which they seek to influence or support government and politics.
political participation
Relatively routine political behavior that uses institutional channels and is acceptable to the dominant culture.
conventional participation
Relatively uncommon political behavior that challenges or defies established institutions and dominant norms.
unconventional participation
Unconventional participation that involves assembling crowds to confront businesses and local governments to demand a hearing.
direct action
Behavior that seeks to modify or reverse government policy to serve political interests.
influencing behavior
A legal action brought by a person or group on behalf of a numer of people in similar circumstances.
class action suit
The right to vote; also called franchise.
suffrage
The right to vote; also called suffrage.
franchise
The process for removing an elected official from office.
recall
An election on a political issue.
referendum
A procedure by which voters can propose an issue to be decided by the legislature or by the people in a referendum; it requires gathering a specified number of signatures and submitting a petition to a designated agency.
initiative
Citizens eligible to vote.
electorate
An organization that sponsors candidates for political office under the organization’s name.
political party
Designation as an official candidate of a political party.
nomination
A closed meeting of the members of a political party to decide questions of policy and the selection of candidates for office.
caucus
A gathering of delegates of a single political party from across the country to choose candidates for president and vice president and to adopt a party platform.
national convention
The statement of policies of a national political party.
party platform
A centralized party organization that dominates local politics by controlling elections.
party machine
The system by which one office, contested by two or more candidates, is won by the single candidate who collects the most votes.
majority representation
The system by which legislative seats are awarded to a party in proportion to the vote that the party wins in an election.
proportional representation
A group of interests or organizations that join forces for the purpose of electing public officials.
coalition
The tendency of a lesser-known or weaker candidate lower on the ballot to profit in an election by the presence on the party’s ticket of a more popular candidate.
coattail effect
A preliminary election conducted within a political party to select candidates who will run for public office in a subsequent election.
primary election
A primary election in which voters must declare their party affiliation before they are given the primary ballot containing that party’s potential nominees.
closed primary
A primary election in which voters need not declare their party affiliation and can choose one party’s primary ballot to take into the voting booth.
open primary
A primary election that allows individual state parties to decide whether they permit independents to vote in their primaries and for which offices.
modified closed primary
A primary election that entitles independent voters to vote in a party’s primary.
modified open primary
A special primary election used to select delegates to attend the party’s national convention, which in turn nominates the presidential candidate.
presidential primary
A national election held by law in November of every even-numbered year.
general election
In voting, a single party’s candidates for all the offices.
straight ticket
In voting, candidates from different parties for different offices.
split ticket
A bipartisan federal agency of six members that oversees the financing of national election campaigns.
Federal Election Commision (FEC)
Financial contributions given directly to a candidate running for congressional office or the presidency.
hard money
Funds that are not raised and spent for a specific federal election campaign.
soft money
Committees named after Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code; they enjoy tax-exempt status in election campaigns if they are unaffiliated with political parties.
527 committees
An organized group of individuals that seeks to influence public policy; also called a lobby.
interest group
An organized group of individuals that seeks to influence public policy; also called an interest group. (Person who works with one?)
lobbyist
The process by which new issues are brought into the political limelight.
agenda building
The situation in which people benefit from the activities of an organization (such as an interest group) but do not contribute to those activities.
free-rider problem
An organization that pools campaign contributions from group members and donates those funds to canidates for political office.
political action committee
Attempts to influence a legislator’s vote through personal contact with the legislator.
direct lobbying
Keeping track of government programs, usually by interest groups.
program monitoring
A nonprofit group that may legally address political matters but may not lobby or campaign; donations to it are tax deductible.
501(c)(3) organization
A nonprofit group that is permitted to lobby and campaign; donations to it are not tax deductible.
501(c)(4) organization
Lobbying activities performed by rank-and-file interest group members and would-be members.
grassroots lobbying
